Explores how trauma and the migration experience are perceived by the refugee children from the Sudan, their American foster parents, and their social workers. Using the social constructivist paradigm, which assumes that reality is constructed by the meanings and values assigned by the participant, interviews with Sudanese foster children, foster parents, and social workers explore each participants??? perceptions of trauma and the refugee journey. The children???s definitions of trauma are emotional and focus on personal tragedy and loss. The parents??? definitions are distant and less descriptive; and the workers??? definitions highlight the severity of experiences these children endured. The journey to the refugee camp and camp life meld into one extended period for the children, whereas the parents and the workers divide these experiences into stages. The adjustment phase evokes feeling of trauma for all three groups. The children focus on feelings of isolation and inability to express themselves through language. The parents recount conflict surrounding family and gender roles. Child-care workers must mediate these disparate perceptions and barriers of language and culture by recreating Sudanese culture through game play, cooking, and discussion. Opportunities to practice their Christian faith, a dominant factor in their perceived ability to survive, also provide the children with a source of strength. (IP)
